AFTER OBTAINING my law degree in 1973, I started my practice in the Banda district court, where two of my uncles practised: one was a lawyer on the civil and revenue side, and the other on the criminal side. After a year, I shifted to the Kanpur district court to practise with Barrister Narendra Jeet Singh. His wife had inherited property in Kashmir, and he used to visit there every year. At the end of a year, he invited me to spend the summer of 1975 in Srinagar, which I gladly accepted.
On the fateful night intervening 25–26 June, when the Internal Emergency was imposed, I was on a train on my way back to join my father’s chamber at Allahabad. I had flown from Srinagar to Amritsar from where I took a train to Delhi, and then caught an overnight train to Allahabad.
My father was a prominent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (‘RSS’) man. Our family and the family of Rajju Bhaiya (who later became the fourth Sar Sanghchalak of the RSS) were very close. We had our houses in the same compound. He used to come over to our house every day in the morning to read newspapers and often in the evening after attending the shakha.
After the Emergency was imposed, Rajju Bhaiya went underground to fight against the tyranny. My father was first arrested under the Defence of India Rules, 1962. He was granted bail but before he could come out of jail, he was detained under Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 (‘MISA’), equivalent to the present National Security Act, 1980 (‘NSA’).
We filed a habeas corpus petition for my father’s release. The State raised a preliminary point regarding its maintainability. The matter was referred to a five judge bench. It was decided in our favour by four to one.
